Lately, that's how it feels watching one of baseball's best pitchers dominate the sport. For the Phillies and the National League, it's becoming even more than just a stellar season from the 25-year-old righty.

As the 2018 season approaches the final month, Nola (2.13 ERA, 169 IP) has emerged as a legitimate candidate to win the NL MVP award.

Here's why.

Value: After Thursday's dominant outing vs. the Washington Nationals, Nola leads all of baseball in Baseball-Reference WAR for pitchers with 8.9. The highest mark for a position player: Boston's Mookie Betts at 8.5. What Nola has been while on the mound has been more valuable than any other player in the sport this season.

Old-school value: The Phillies are 19-7 when Nola starts. They are 50-51 when anyone else takes the mound. If you like the old-school argument of true "value" to a team and want a player dragging a team into contention, Nola fits the bill. The Phillies are in the thick of a pennant race largely because of Nola's excellence.

Plus, it's not like we're talking about a pitcher with a high ERA being propped up by lofty run support. That reality stood out when Nola outdueled Nationals ace Max Scherzer on Wednesday, winning a 2-0 tilt. In the eighth inning, with the Phillies' season feeling like it hung in the balance, Nola struck out Bryce Harper to preserve a small lead.

Lack of a standout position player: Let's look at the bWAR leaderboard (factoring in pitcher hitting as well, boosting Scherzer slightly ahead of Nola) in the National League heading into play on August 24.

You have to go down to Cain before a position player emerges this season. Nola has been worth three more wins than the top position player in the league this season. If it were close, perhaps the case for Cain or Freeman or Baez would overtake a pitcher that only participates once every five days. But it isn't close.

Past precedent: Clayton Kershaw won the NL MVP award in 2014. Justin Verlander captured the AL MVP in 2011. Those victories represent the only times pitchers have won MVPs in the last 25 seasons, but could be a template for Nola now.

Look at how Verlander, Kershaw and Nola compare in their respective seasons.

Verlander: 34 starts, 251 IP, 250 SO, 2.99 FIP, 8.6 WAR

Kershaw: 27 starts, 198.1 IP, 239 SO, 1.81 FIP, 7.7 WAR

Nola: 26 starts, 169 IP, 169 SO, 2.66 FIP, 8.9 WAR (through Thursday)

Verlander and Kershaw were dominant, but Nola's season is already more valuable than what either accomplished relative to the league at the time. Unless the Nationals rally to make the playoffs behind Scherzer or one of the position players has a major jump in September, the NL MVP race will be anyone's to win. Nola deserves serious consideration to steal the award.